Content writers have an imperative role to play when it comes to the success and effectiveness of any marketing agency. After all, if you do not have original, engaging, and exciting content for your clients, they are going to struggle to make an impact online.
However, with so many content writers to choose from all around the world, how do you choose the right one for your marketing agency?
- Be clear in your job description
There is only one place to begin when it comes to hiring the right content writer for your marketing agency, and this is by making sure that your description is accurate, clear, and informative about what you are looking for. You can use this content writer job description sample to give you a helping hand.
One of the biggest mistakes we see businesses make is that their job descriptions are too generic. When this happens, people without the right qualifications or skills end up applying. At the same time, people make applications only to then later find out that the job is not really what they are looking for. Ultimately, there is no benefit in being ambiguous.
- Carefully consider the writer’s level of experience
Anyone can say they are a “writer,” yet not everyone has been trained in this art. When you are looking to hire a content writer for your team, it is important to consider their degree of experience.
Have they been educated to a degree level? Have they taken any writing courses? What about their marketing experience? Have they been trained in SEO? These are the different questions you should be asking yourself when putting together a profile of the sort of candidate you want for your team.
- Review published samples
Next, look at some of the work the writer has already done. It is always a good idea to ask for published samples. Sadly, there are people who will simply copy and paste a few samples from someone else and pop them into a document. Instead, if you can view some published pieces with the writer’s author bio, it can help to confirm what they have said in their application and CV.
Of course, some writers will have mainly worked on ghost content, meaning their work is not published in their own name. It is important to keep this in mind and not rule out a writer who does not have a lot of published work online in their own name. You can use our next suggestion to help confirm the quality they provide.
- Ask the writer to do a paid trial piece
It is a good idea to ask the writer you are considering to do a paid trial piece. You should send them the brief for one article, and then you can get a feel for what their writing style is like and whether or not this is going to be the right person for you.
The trial piece should always be paid. We have seen a number of businesses who have asked writers to do trial pieces free of charge. However, it is important to respect your content writer. They are not going to be offering their services for free, so why should you expect to get a taster of their services without spending a penny?
One paid trial piece limits the risks for everyone involved. It ensures the writer gets paid for their efforts while you can assess their work without needing to make such a massive investment.
- Don’t simply go for the cheapest content writer you can find
If you go for the cheapest content writer you can find, you can expect poor quality work. There are some writers online nowadays offering ridiculously cheap rates, yet in return, you will receive an article in broken English, which hasn’t been proofed and is filled with waffle and filler content.
Remember, you are hiring a content writer so that they can boost your client’s online visibility and give their brand a voice. This service is supposed to drive more value and profit for the client, which means more service and profit for you. Therefore, it certainly does not pay to cut corners in this area. It will only come back to haunt you in the long run.
Another recommendation is to display the price you are willing to pay on your job ad if you have a very specific budget in mind. If you are willing to pay the content writer based on their prices and their experience, it’s fine to leave this as an open-ended discussion point. However, if you know exactly what you are willing to pay on this, state it in the application.
There is nothing worse than interviewing someone, feeling they are perfect, and then realizing their ideas on payment are way apart from your own.
- Discuss turnaround time
Another important element to discuss is turnaround time. How quickly do you expect articles to be returned to you?
While you may want to receive content the same day as it is sent to the writer, you also need to think about quality. Putting too much time pressure on someone can result in poor quality work because they become more focused on the deadline itself rather than the quality of the work they are producing.
Because of this, it makes sense to speak with the content writer and determine a turnaround time you will both be happy with. You can, of course, ask the content writer if they are adaptable should there be an urgent requirement for any reason.
- Establish communication methods
How are you going to communicate with the content writer? Do you prefer to use email? Have you got an instant messaging service you rely on?
You should determine how quickly you expect the writer to reply, and whether you need them to be online at certain points throughout the day.
If you expect your content writer to be a part of any meetings you are having, you should also make this clear and evident. After all, your content writer could get frustrated if they decide to work for you at a set price, and then they realize they need to do one-hour meetings every day, which wasn’t discussed beforehand!
- Ask whether the writer has any areas of specialism
Some writers are confident about covering any subject. They can adapt their style based on the audience and the type of content they are producing.
However, there are other content writers that are more comfortable in certain niches, such as technology or healthcare.
It is important to establish this from the offset because you want to make sure you match writers to the projects that are most suitable to them so you can get the best outcome at the end of the day.
- Make the process clear
It is also critical to make the process clear. If you have a set way of doing things, discuss this with the prospective writer so that they can understand the way you work and whether or not this is going to be right for them.
For instance, do you provide a detailed brief? Do you suggest keywords, or do you expect your writer to do this? Are there any formatting guidelines? How should the content be submitted?
- Pay attention to enthusiasm
Last but not least, it is vital to look for an enthusiastic and self-motivated writer. This is especially the case if you are looking for a remote writer.
You need someone who is not only passionate about writing but also researching and enriching their knowledge. You need to ensure that they are going to be excited and enthusiastic about the projects you send them.
After all, if a client is bored and uninspired, it will show in the work that they produce. You can tell when a writer is simply putting down words for the sake of it and because they are trying to reach a certain word count.
Of course, once a writer joins your team, it is important to look for ways to keep them motivated and avoid the monotonous nature of the job. You may want to switch up their work from time to time or offer them some sort of employee perk to give them a boost and make them feel appreciated.
Hire the perfect content writer for your agency and thrive
So there you have it: our top tips on hiring the right content writer for your marketing agency. There is a lot to consider when looking for the best writer for your team. However, if you carefully consider the advice that we have mentioned above, you should have no trouble finding the ideal new team member.
